Tourist arrivals down

Tourist arrivals down

Indonesia recorded a 1.2 percent drop in foreign tourist arrivals for the first six months of 2002, Central Bureau of Statistics deputy chairman Slamet Mukeno said Thursday.

Indonesia recorded 2.06 million tourists in the first six months of 2002 compared to 2.08 million in the first half of 2001, Slamet said.

"The not so conducive situation in the country appears to have caused the drop in the number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia," Mukeno said.

However, tourist arrivals in July rose 3.94 percent to 376,478 compared to the previous month. Mukeno said the July figure was the highest for the first half of the year.

He said occupancy rate at starred hotels in ten tourist areas of the country rose to 43.42 percent in May, from 39.75 percent in the previous month.

Bali, the most popular destination for foreign tourists, recorded the highest hotel occupancy rate of 52.86 percent in the month, while South Sulawesi recorded the lowest hotel occupancy rate of 27.54 percent. -- JP